Excel+ claims to be a great Excel viewer app, but snags your data without permission

Excel+ recently hit the Windows Store for Windows 8 and Windows RT and claims to be a free app that allows you to view Excel spreadsheets. In fact, this app appeared to be pretty awesome in viewing and interacting with Excel documents across platforms and devices. Unfortunately, the app appears to be a scam.

According to a report from McAkins Online, Excel+ is not free and after a few days of use, the app will prompt you to “recommend to your friends.” If you do not recommend the app to friends, the app will close and inform you that the “trial has expired.” Funny thing is, this app is listed as free in the Windows Store. A violation of the Store’s policy. Another major concern of this app is that the app-maker Anko is uploading your data to an external site for “analysis.” The app-maker has yet to issue a statement on this allegation. However, it is always best to air on the side of caution.